Importance of Training in Retailing Mobile and Accessories

We are currently in an era where even three year olds know how to navigate their way through smart devices. Since it is already a part of social norms and lifestyle, mobile phones and its accessories are already considered necessities. Knowing at least the basics on both its physical features and applications is almost innate in us.

With the confidence that at least 90% of the overall population of any developing and/or developed country is knowledgeable in mobile devices, retail owners oftentimes neglect the importance of training their employees on the fundamentals of the field or at least reviewing the depth of their knowledge. True, retailing mobile devices is not rocket science but it is not a stagnant industry either. Technology, as we all know is constantly evolving and changing and with what is currently happening, the shift is spurring fast and we have to be updated on the latest to constantly be in the loop. Besides, training also enables us to understand the going in and out of the business.

No Olympic medalist can learn their sport overnight. Every athlete needs ample amount of training and practice to succeed. Just as well, in order for your business to grow, you and your employees need to establish proper training regimen.

We, at the Peterson Group, for instance, conduct annual trainings and seminars for our own employees. Since they need to understand the process and system of our company, we strive hard not to confine them on their own respective departments alone. We urge them to interact with each other’s teams that will enable them to identify the weight of each other’s responsibilities. Although retailers encompass smaller scale teams, the people within that company also need to understand their own job description. This is also to avoid illiteracy complaints and enhance skills.

Allan Winchester, director of sales at PEW Retailing in Jakarta, Indonesia states, “A skilled and trained sales consultant will maximize the consumers’ experience by understanding the client’s needs with their lifestyle by asking the right qualifying questions and positioning all products and services available for the consumer to have the full experience with their device”.

Product training also boosts the “Wow” factor each company should have when it comes to technical specifications and is essential in strengthening credibility. Which company would want to be tagged as fraud just because their staff doesn’t seem to know what they are talking about?

Mobile Phone Usage Failures in Developing Countries

The massive uptake of mobile phones has crossed gaps and formed bridges in many objectives and goals in developing countries. Aside from bridging communication barriers between nations, mobile industry has also provided people a great range of services and information, aided by the spur growth of mobile accessories that enhances phone’s features and capabilities. Mobile phones have also been a good medium in revolutionized information and recording in human disasters.

However, despite being a good tool, a lot of organizations and human rights advocates fail to realize the implications of using mobile phones to good use on development initiatives. In a review of the practice in most developing countries, most humanitarian workers either unconsciously undermine or are not fully aware of mobile phone’s capabilities. As much as the revolution of mobile phones has been able to take down communication barriers among individual trends and cultures, it has not been used much in beneficial causes. In fact, in a survey conducted by The Peterson Group, distributor of mobile phones and laptop peripherals in Taiwan, respondents were asked on the top five benefits of mobile industry. Only 2 out of a hundred random respondents thought of including its benefits during natural calamities.

When a tsunami hit Sumatra, Indonesia last 2004, help and assistance were only received after a day or two as people were too absorbed to capturing the huge waves splashing the seaside than to report to authorities. The government of Jakarta has already expressed grave disappointment on how the citizens have handled the situation in the face of great calamity. Most experts are also concerned of the worsening phenomenon as adaption to mobile technology grows deeper.

Different government entities also support the use of mobile phones on health advocacies despite its’ own warnings of the danger of overexposure in its usage. For instance, the government of Ghana has opened text line at the times when counterfeit medicines are causing high mortality rate in Africa. One free text to confirm the bar code of a particular drug can determine whether it is legit. Despite all the attention and money being poured into mobile health, it is this area in particular in which serious privacy concerns arise. In Ghana’s case, drug counterfeiting continues to increase while the government’s effort is set aside.

More critical thought about mobile phones and their rights’ implications is urgently needed; the risk that development initiatives unknowingly create legacy systems to aid impermissible surveillance or other rights-limiting regimes is significant.